Alex Kapranos and Fran Healy join US supergroup Banquet

MATTHEW DUNNE-MILES

ALEX Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand and Travis’ Fran Healy have joined a newly formed supergroup.

Named Banquet, the project has been put together by American folk rockers Midlake, who recruited the Scots frontmen as a part of an eight-man lineup.

Fran Healy flew out to Texas to be part of Banquet's first album. Picture: Ian Georgeson

Other musicians included in the group, which Midlake’s Eric Pulido described as “a poor man’s Travelling Wilburys,” are the four members of Midlake, as well as Ben Bridwell of Band Of Horses and Jason Lytle of Grandaddy.

Both Glaswegians, Kapranos and Healy will feature on Banquet’s first album, Volume I, which is set for release in 2016.

When discussing the project with the Dallas Obersever, Pulido compared Banquet to a “poor man’s Travelling Wilburys” - a reference to the short-lived ‘80s supergroup featuring Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and George Harrison.

“It’s a humbling and cool experience to share something like this with some of your musical idols who are also nice people,” said Pulido.

Kapranos is reporedly recording his parts remotely, but is no stranger to the supergroup format having recently seen huge critical acclaim for FFS, a joint project between the Glasgow indie rockers and LA band Sparks.

Healy flew out to the Texan city of Denton earlier this year to record his parts on the record.